Govt may extend PAN-Aadhaar linkage deadline by 3-6 months

The government will give three to six months to link Aadhaar with PAN in case the Supreme Court rules in its favour, after which it may cancel all PANs that have not been linked, a senior official has said.

The current deadline for linking the 10-digit alphanumeric PAN (Permanent Account Number), issued by the income tax department, with Aadhaar is December 31.The government has indicated to the Supreme Court that it is willing to extend this deadline to March 31, 2018.

As of November, nearly 13 crores of the 33 crore PANs has been linked to the 12-digit Aadhaar.Not linking PAN with Aadhaar even after the grace period will render the PAN invalid.

This year, the government made the quoting of Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns (ITRs) as well as obtaining a new PAN.